Japanese Communist Party

The Japanese Communist Party (JCP) is a communist political party in Japan which was founded on 15 July 1922. The party seeks to establish a society based on socialism, democracy, and opposition to militarism, working with a democratic framework to oppose imperialism and monopoly capital. The party adhered to Stalinism in its early years, being influenced by the Russian Revolution and the Soviet Union; it held 3% of the seats in the Diet of Japan by 7 December 1941. After 1945, the JCP sought to restore national sovereignty and end the United States' exertion of power over the Japanese government, although it firmly defended the Constitution's Article 9, outlawing war in Japan. Under Shinzo Abe's government, the JCP held 21/475 seats in the House of Representatives, 14/242 House of Councillors seats, 136/2,725 Prefectural Assembly seats, and 2,752/32,070 Municipal Assembly seats.